Every once in a while, a book surprises me. I mean really surprises me. It’s difficult to do because I grew up in my mother’s library and I read a lot of books. In The Night the Sky Fell by Stephen G. Levy, I was...

Leslie Miller’s The Ivory Needle is an allegorical tale for the young and the old. “Africa is a spiritual place, a profound and magical place.” Chessie’s parents’ divorce had rocked everyone’s world. Mom was not herself, sadness filled the household. When Gram’s invitation to visit...

Allie didn't believe the things that had been whispered about Phoenix after her accident. She alone still looked for him, she had faith that he was neither responsible for the fire, nor dead. Of course, having driven off a bridge, and lost her memories...

Lessons From a Gathering of Men is a refreshing book by author Michael Taylor that examines the male psyche as well as today’s conventional social mores and how they’ve impacted today’s male. The book provides an open invitation for all men to redefine their masculinity...

Best Laid Plans & Other Disasters: Cambria Trilogy, Volume 2 is a women’s fiction novel written by Amy Rivers. Gwen Marsh was a natural at politics. She thrived on the interaction between her constituents and other politicians, and she knew she could make a difference....

In today's society, especially with social media, making friends can seem, if not difficult, then almost impossible. Everywhere you turn, people appear to have an intimate relationship with their smartphone, laptop or tablet instead of each other. For Larry, a shy alligator, making friends was...

My initial reaction on reading several of the poems in Words Never Spoken, by Cheryl Denise Bannerman, was: “Wow. What pain. What honesty.” Set forth in seven parts, following the subject’s life struggles, the book invites readers to consider a series of questions at the...

Angel: The Mithista Incident by Scott Borgman holds great promise for a series with characters that readers will enjoy. Meet Dani Taylor, a normal twenty-three-year-old girl who enjoys partying when she is not at her job. But after a night out with her best friends,...

With so much to do to get the soon-to-open Bed and Breakfast ready, Jess Connors tries to do too much too fast. In One Wrong Turn by Deanna Lynn Sletten, Jess swerves on the wet highway to avoid a dog and the SUV skids and...

Are you looking to adopt? Are you curious to know more about adoption? What is involved in the process of adoption? Your Adoption Guidebook by Deanna Kahler takes you through the entire process – from making the decision to adopt, to choosing the type of...

LOVE: The Beat Goes On is a non-fiction memoir/motivational book written Lynda Filler. Filler was living the good life, albeit it wasn’t a life immune from the stresses and strains of modern times. She was a motivated and successful businesswoman, and while her marriage had...

Spirit Quest by poet Bob MacKenzie and illustrator Sharlena Wood was a beautiful book of poetry. Throughout the book were gorgeous illustrations that matched the written poems perfectly. The poems themselves told stories of mountains, lakes, cabins, woods, and other serene settings. You can’t help...

It’s rare for me to review a book subjectively, but in the case of Incest, Murder and a Miracle by Cheryl Cuccio, Robert Cuccio, and Morgan St. James, I felt I had no choice. For starters, details, many of which were inaccurate, about the young...

I just love new stories built around Greek mythology. Greek mythology gave me so many hours of pleasurable reading as a kid and I appreciate that. I have read a lot of Greek mythology. I mean the original tales from Greek history and religion. I...

An unexpected treasure handed over from an ex-spouse via the divorce lawyer; a classic mother-son bonding experience on a roller coaster ride; tragic tales of survival of ordinary Cuban citizens in the 1960s; a paranormal happening in the Museum of the Weird, the Sad, and...

When Leaves Fall by C.A. King is a gripping story. Ralph, whose identity we have yet to learn, wakes up in a dilapidated shed. He is tied up by his neck and held captive there. He doesn't know where he is or why he is...

Slime Spewing Vampire Velociraptors: Moto Maddie BMX Portal, Book 2 is an action and adventure urban fantasy novel for children and preteens written by Kat de Falla and illustrated by Elayne Griffith. Peabody Cleveland O’Neil really wanted to go to his best friend’s house for...

Part of Me by Deanna Kahler is an interesting story with an intriguing twist. Chase has been tormented for years by flashes of memories that make no sense. His life is upside-down because of these flashes and episodes of panic attacks that leave scattered clues...

Nobody's Like Me: A Bronx Girl's Memoir by Irene Abruzzese is a wonderful story of a young girl growing up without her mother, raised by her uncle, grandmother, and aunts, an inter-generational journey of her passage to womanhood - a story that examines what it...

The Dancing Spirit by Chaute Akira reveals the world of the unseen. Where does that sudden feeling of creepiness come from, or the out-of-the-blue sensation of heaviness? Who is whispering promises of comfort, but in reality causing tremendous fear and frustration? Who are the phantoms...